Inner sole



(No Model.)

A. F. SMITH INNER SOLE,STIPFENER, 6:0. v I No. 376,419. Patented'Jan.10, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

AARON F. SMITH, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE 'WOOD- BURY HEELCOMPANY, OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

INNER SOLE, STIFFENER, 84.0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,419, dated January10, 1888. Application filed September 10, 1887. Serial No. 249,308. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AARON F. SMITH, of Lynn, in the county of Essex andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Stock or Material for the Manufacture of Inner Soles,Stiffeners,&c., and Stiffeners Made from the Same, of which thefollowingis a specification.

My invention relates to stock or material for the manufacture of innersoles, stiffeners, &c., for boots and shoes and to stiffener-blanks andstififeners manufactured therefrom.

It is the purpose of my invention to produce a material for inner soles,stiffeners, &c.,w hich shall be at once light in weight, flexible,entirely odorless, of slight bulk or body, exceedingly durable, and toall intents and pur-. poses Water-proof, being also very economic ofmanufacture;

No material, perhaps, for the purposes mentioned, prior to my invention,has been discovered or manufactured that comes nearer to embodying thequalities enumerated than good well-tanned leather, though it for manypurposes fails to meet all of the several requirements named.

Myinvention consists in a stock or material for the manufacture of innersoles, stiffeners, &c., composed of layers of wood pulp with a layer orlayers of canvas or other textile fabric interposed between such layersof wood pulp, and in stiffener-blanks and molded stiffeners manufacturedtherefrom.

Myinvention will first be described in connection with the drawings, andsubsequently pointed out in the claims.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a portion ofthe stock or material comprising my improvements, said stock beingshaped in the form of an inner sole. Fig. 2 represents a sectional viewon the line .90, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a stiffenerblanlrformed in accordance with my lllV6l1 tion. Fig. 4 is a perspective viewof a molded stiffener embodying my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in all of the views.

In the drawings, a a represent layers or sheets of wood pulp, preferablywaterproofed; 50 and b, a layer or sheet of canvas or other textilefabric interposed between the sheets or layers of .wood pulp.

In Figs. 1 and 3 I have shown the several sheets or layers comprising myimproved stock or material as separated at one point and turned back tobetter illustrate the relationship of the parts.

The wood pulp, being waterproof, can be made quite thin, so that anarticle manufactured from the material-as, for instance, an innersole-may be made exceedingly light and flexible, and at the same timewater-proof. \Vhile wood pulp itself is quite tough, the interposedsheet of canvas so strengthens the material that it will hold stitchesor other fastenings in a boot or shoe fully as well as leather.

The interposed sheet'or layer 1) of textile fabric may be arranged andsecured in place in any suitable way-that is to say, it may be rolledinto the material at the time the same is made into sheets, or it may beplaced between the sheets a of wood pulp after the latter has been madeand secured in place by compression, or by means of cement, or in anyother convenient or suitable manner.

It is not essential that the material or stock should be composed of butthree layers-two of wood pulp and one interposed layer of textilefabricas any number of sheets may be laid together, the sheets oftextilefabric being always preferably interposed between the sheets orlayers of wood pulp.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a blank, B, for a stiffener struck up fromthematerial, and in Fig. 4 a molded stiffener, 0, made from the same. Inarticles of this character-the sheets of wood pulp a may be madesomewhat thicker and heavier than the inner soles, as shown in Fig. 1,manufactured from the stock.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Theherein-described material or stock for the manufacture ofinner soles,stiffeners, 810., for boots and shoes, the same consisting of aplurality of layers or sheets of wood pulp and a layer or layers oftextile fabric interposed between such layers of wood pulp, all of saidlayers being securedtogether, as set forth.

2. A blank for boot and shoe stiifeners, consisting of a plurality oflayers or sheets of] In testimony whereof Ilmve signed my name [0 Woodpulp and a layer or layers of textile fuhto this specification, inthepresence of twosnbric interposed between the layers or sheets ofscribing witnesses, this 31st day of August, A. wood pulp, as set forth.D. 1887.

3. A molded stiffener for boots and shoes, composed of a plurality oflayers or sheets of wood pulp with an interposed sheet or layer of\Vitnesses: textile fabric, the several layers being secured ARTHUR W.CRossLEY, together, as set forth. I G. F. BRONVN;

AARON F. SMITH.

